63 Quotes about Honesty to Inspire Truth & Integrity
Honesty builds trust, strengthens relationships, and defines character, so we’ve gathered all the best quotes about honesty to remind you of its importance.
And if you’re looking for short, honest sayings for Instagram, we also have you covered.
Now go ahead and browse through to find your favorite.
Short Quotes about Honesty

“A clear conscience is more valuable than wealth.” —Tagalog (Filipino) (on conscience)
“A fair exchange is no robbery.” —Scottish Proverb
“A friend’s eye is a good mirror.” —Gaelic (on friendship)
“A loan though old is not a gift.” —Hungarian (on indebtedness)
“A man who never made a mistake, never made anything.” —unknown
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.” —Julius Caesar
“Dally not with other folk’s spouses or money.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Don’t pretend to be something you aren’t.” —Aesop
“Don’t take any wooden nickels.” —American (on authenticity)
“Following the path of least resistence is what makes both men and rivers crooked.” —unknown
“From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.” —Jesus Christ
“Half the truth is often a whole lie.” —Benjamin Franklin
“He that first cries out ‘stop thief’ is often he that has stolen the treasure.” —William Congreve
“He that steals an egg will steal an ox.” —George Herbert
“Honesty is the best policy.” —Aesop
“It is better to suffer for truth than to prosper by falsehood.” —Danish (on comparable worth)
“Keep conscience clear, then never fear.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.” —George Chapman
“Let’s get things straight.” —unknown
“Making money selling manure is better than losing money selling musk.” —Egyptian (on buying and selling)
“No legacy is as rich as honesty.” —unknown
“Pay what you owe and what you’re worth you’ll know.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Possession is nine tenths of the law.” —unknown
“The best thing about telling the truth is…you don’t have to remember what you said!” —unknown
“The contented person can never be ruined.” —Chinese (on conscience)
“The sting of a reproach is the truth of it.” —Benjamin Franklin
“When a thief kisses you, count your teeth.” —Yiddish
“You can fool people some of the time, but you can’t fool them all of the time.” —Aesop
“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” —Abraham Lincoln
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” —Alan K. Simpson
“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.” —Albert Einstein
“An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” —Alexander Pope
“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold.” —Aristotle
“One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.” —Benjamin Disraeli
“Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.” —Billy Joel
“Honest hearts produce honest actions.” —Brigham Young
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them.” —Francois de la Rochefoucauld
“Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” —Henry David Thoreau
“He that loseth his honesty hath nothing else to lose.” —John Lyly
“The true measure of life is not length, but honesty.” —John Lyly
“Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess.” —Josh Billings
“Honesty pays, but it doesn’t seem to pay enough to suit some people.” —Kin Hubbard
“Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.” —Leo Tolstoy
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” —Marcus Aurelius
“Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?” —Marcus Tullius Cicero
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” —Mark Twain
“Honesty is the best policy when there is money in it.” —Mark Twain
“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” —Mark Twain
“Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.” —Mary Kay Ash
“Truth allows you to live with integrity. Everything you do and say shows the world who you really are. Let it be the truth.” —Oprah Winfrey
“Honesty does not always bring a response of love, but it is absolutely essential to it.” —Ray Blanton
“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” —Salman Rushdie
“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” —Sigmund Freud
“Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” —Sophocles
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” —Thomas Jefferson
“Science adjusts its views based on what’s observed; faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.” —Tim Minchin
“A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.” —William Blake
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” —William Shakespeare
“The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.” —Zig Ziglar
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